And neither one of them is racism.

The main reason killing Allen, one that Scherer didn't touch on much, is the shifting explanation of what, exactly, "macaca" is supposed to mean. They chose the stupid and obviously false "mohawk" story, and when that unraveled Allen and his people didn't know what to do. Sadly, if Allen had just stated from the beginning he was calling Sidarth a "shit head" (as he more or less stated in his third or forth explanation), it might have been talked about for a day as an example of crass behavior and disappeared.

Scherer did explore the second reason this really hurts Allen, and that's the bullying. I think American voters like to preserve the illusion that they aren't electing assholes, and you can't really get much more assholish than bullying an unpaid campaign volunteer almost 40 years your junior.

I hate to say it, but I think if it had been merely racist behavior on Allen's part, the story would have largely died but for the tut-tutting by those of us who wouldn't support Allen anyway.

I suppose Perry is doing this to make sure his base sticks with him in a four-way race for the governor's mansion. I only hope that it backfires, both in TX-22--where this will only add to the confusion--and by giving Perry's competitors some traction. Though this being Texas, maybe carrying water for corrupt bullies won't be seen as a negative.

The day before news of Steve Irwin's death hit the wires my wife and I visited Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. If I'd never heard the message Steve and Teri Irwin spread to the world through "The Crocodile Hunter" I'm not sure that I would have looked at the komodo dragon, monitor lizards and chameleons that were part of the special exhibit currently at the Shedd the same way.

Thanks to Steve, I could see these animals not as things to be feared, but things to be admired and respected. The genius of Steve Irwin was that when you got past the crocodile captures and the Australian persona that seemed straight of Monty Python's "Bruces" sketch, you found a dedicated and passionate conservationist, one with the gift of passing that passion on to others. And Irwin didn't settle for easy "be good to Mother Earth" platitudes--he explained why these animals are important to the environment, and why their absence would diminish us.

Steve Irwin's death is a great loss, but my hope is that his friends and family will carry on his legacy and keep educating the rest of us.

George W. Bush has said, more than once, that he believes God wanted him in the White House. There is no question that Bush does have a millenial view of the world and a messianic view of his place in it. Obama was spot on and if he tries to apologize, take back, or otherwise run from his honest and well-founded opinion, then he's not the leader many of us think him to be.

After all, it wasn't a Democratic fundraiser that actress Mary Carey paid to get into.

I both agree and disagree with what's been said about Bayh. He was a good governor and is a good Senator in that, I think, he represents most Hoosiers--a little more conservative than most, but he's no zealot.

That said, Bayh is exactly the sort of nominee we don't want for the Democrats in 2008. Republican-lite politics have dragged us to utter defeat consistently since 1994, with the exception of Bill Clinton's re-election in '96, and if Bayh heads the ticket in two years, it will be more of the same.

They're mad that Kerry's lame attempt at humor and the even lamer attempts by the Republicans to manufacture outrage over it have not caught fire and single-handedly staunched the arterial bleeding that is the GOP's election hopes this year.

Tom Oliphant very correctly pointed out that the Kerry story has been overshadowed locally around the country by issues voters actually care about--the economy, Iraq--and by the fact that voters seem to be tired of the right-wing noise machine in general. Or, in the case of Virginia (where Oliphant now lives), a Senator's campaign workers roughed up someone who, at worst, was being a pest.

Compared with that, faux outrage of Kerry's remarks seem like small potatoes.

She should have thought of it because Borat's been a character on several seasons of "Da Ali G Show," a huge hit in Britain, and with a significant following here in the States, thanks to airing on HBO.

Cohen interviews people in character, and never breaks character, whether as Ali G, Bruno, or Borat. This is not new and Cohen is hardly unknown.

And she should have Googled because in this YouTube era where anyone with a digital camera can become a video prankster, you never can be too careful.

I'm finishing up a three year vestry term at my Episcopal church--we're luckier than some parishes; I think the tension between the traditional and progressive members of our congregation has been overall constructive. We're moving forward, but not too fast.

For the church as a whole, if there are people that can't handle Jefferts Schori as bishop or want to keep the ECUSA stagnantly rooted in the past, then, well, go with God.

The only reason I stuck with MSNBC, at least until The Daily Show/Colbert Report's "Midterm Midtacular," was that the talking heads on CNN were even worse. Tweety started hectoring Howard Dean about Iraq early in the evening and it just went down hill from there.

MSNBC, please give us a lot more Olbermann, and a lot less Matthews in 2008. Pretty please?

I'm old enough (just) to remember how Indiana foolishly cast Evan Bayh's father, Birch, aside for (ugh) Dan Quayle. Birch was a great Senator and Democrat, but unfortunately the apple fell a little too far from the tree.

If only it was Birch, not Evan, running for president.